HO CHI MINHHo Chi Minh was born on the 19th of May 1890. His name was Nguyen Sinh Cung. Of course during his lifetime he was known by many different names but the one mostly recognized is Ho Chi Minh, meaning “He Who Enlightens”.The foundation for Ho Chi Minh’s education came because he spent most of his life away from Vietnam. Whilst away he learned about Western culture and politics, and embraced communism. To break free from colonialism it was necessary for his people to establish socioeconomic standards so that they no longer needed to rely upon those of the European nations.

When he returned to Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Minh independence movement in 1941 against Japanese occupation. Then again following the Declaration of Independence of Vietnam on 2 Sep 1945 against the French. For this he was and still is regarded as the father of Vietnam.

LE DUANThe formation of an organised communist insurgency in South Vietnam was masterminded by Le Duan. A native of Vietnam’s southern provinces, Le Duan was active in communist groups in the Mekong region in the 1940s. By the mid1950s he was a high ranking member of the North Vietnamese government, occupying a seat in the Lao Dong Politburo. In 1956 Le Duan developed a plan, the ‘Road to the South’. In it he called for communists to rise up and gather support, overthrow South Vietnam’s leader Ngo Dinh Diem and expel foreign advisors and businessmen. Le Duan presented this plan to members of the Politburo but they did not support his call for a full scale war. The Politburo considered North Vietnam’s domestic policies, such as economic and military reform, to be more pressing. It would be better, they said, to wait three years for attempting to facilitate a revolution in South Vietnam. Nevertheless the Politburo authorised communist insurgents in the South to begin a limited campaign of violence.

General Hoang Van ThaiViet Cong leader duringthe time the U.S Army took part in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1973, also Tet Offensive main leader. From 1973 to 1975, he returned to the North in charge of making plans leading to the fall of Saigon in 1975.

VIET CONGThe Viet Cong (VC) also known as the National Liberation Front (NLF), was a political organization with its own army the Peoples Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF). It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it controlled. Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam, but others were attached to the Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the regular North Vietnamese army. During the war, communists and anti-war spokesmen insisted the Việt Cộng was an insurgency indigenous to the South, while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of Hanoi. Although the terminology distinguishes northerners from the southerners, communist forces were under a single command structure set up in 1958.

The origins of the Viet Cong begin with the Geneva Accords of 1954. Under the terms of the Accords, military personnel were ordered to return to their place of origin, either North or South Vietnam. Many Viet Minh soldiers and sympathisers, however, stayed in South Vietnam and remained ‘underground’, mostly in rural or remote areas. By 1959 there were as many as 20 different communist cells scattered around South Vietnam. In total these cells contained as many as 3,000 men.

Thousands of South Vietnamese, marginalised and dispossessed by the corruption and brutality of the Diem regime, enlisted to fight with the NLF. Those unable to fight – including women, children and the elderly – gave support in other ways, promising to provide food, safety and information about enemy troop movements. Buddhist monks, former members of religious sects like the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, displaced peasants and urban workers could be found in NLF ranks. Support did not only flow one way, however. The NLF’s bombings, sabotage and assassinations also generated considerable opposition. These attacks, though aimed at foreign or South Vietnamese government targets, often killed innocent civilians, destroyed private property and disrupted business. As a consequence there were many South Vietnamese who supported neither the Diem government or the NLF.

D445 BATTALIOND445 was the Battalion that we in Whiskey Company often heard about and at many times were patrolling for and coming in contact with elements of this battalion. The D445 Provincial Mobile Battalion or the Ba Ria Battalion, was a Local Force battalion of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

Ho Chi Minh was not as active in policy during the Vietnam War. From 1945 until 1969 he was President/Prime Minister of North Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh is known to have been instrumental in the development of many policies and organisations throughout hislife. Nguyen Sinh Cung or Ho Chi Minh, as we knew him, died on the 2nd of September 1969

To us in Whiskey Company the enemy were those that we came in contact with whilst we were on operation. Primarily these were individuals who were in areas that as far as we were concerned should have been areas free of friendly persons. To most of us these were "Charlie" (shortened version of Viet Cong (VC) or phonetically Victor Charlie). We were mainly looking for black clothing wearing what we termed "Ho Chi Minh Sandles" and of course carrying weapons of some sort. Whenever mentioned the enemy were almost always refered to as "Charlie".

This photograph is identified as a group from D445 Battalion in the Phouc Tuy province.

The battalion operated in the Dong Nai river basin and also the Bien Hoa, Phouc Tuy and Long Khanh provinces. It recruited principally from Dat Do, Long Dien and Hoa Long. The battalion was formed on 19 May 1965. It consisted of three rifle companies and one weapon’s company with a total strength of approximately 350 men and was commanded by Nguyen Van Kiem. Nguyen Van Kiem was an experienced soldier who had fought the French before 1954 in this area. In 1967 the D445 were also joined and supported by D440 Battalion which was made up of members who had come south from North Vietnam.